


Safe and Sound

by Duskfall



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Gen, Hannah's experience after she dies in the fire, These girls need more love, Washington sister reunion, everyone else lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-20 09:29:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8244436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duskfall/pseuds/Duskfall
Summary: Her mind was filled with a sort of white noise. She could feel everything and nothing in a moment that seemed to last forever.
  Then, in an instant, it stopped.The ringing was gone. The pain was gone. The fire, the lodge, the people. But she could feel something, and Hannah opened her eyes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> While I continue writing and re-writing the next chapter of Coming Home as I try to get it right, enjoy this in the meantime! It's rather short and not my best work, but I feel like the twins need more material on this site, so enjoy a small one-shot of the Washington girls.
> 
> If you're the kind of person who likes to listen to music while reading to enhance the experience, I recommend "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift for this one. The lyrics about morning light and being safe in death are perfect, and partially inspired this story (hence the title). Happy reading!

Hannah had always believed that burning was the worst way to die.

They say that fears usually originate from one of two places; either they're hereditary, passed down through genetics as evolutionary survival instincts, or they develop as a result of unpleasant experiences, usually early in life. Fearing fire is natural, because we as a race have learned that it's dangerous when uncontrolled. But Hannah knew that the source of her phobia was far more concrete.

Once, during a sleepover at Sam's house, the two girls had shared what their earliest memories were. For Sam, it was a sunny day at a lake, with her parents laughing in the background as she chased a golden retriever through the spring grass on shaky toddler legs. She swore that she could still feel the cool breeze and the water droplets the dog shook off, smell the flowers and see the cobalt sky.

Hannah's first memory was burning.

When she and Beth were only four years old, a faulty electric wire had sent their Hollywood home up in flames in the middle of the night. They were woken in their shared bedroom by smoke creeping under the door, choking them and disorienting the already groggy twins. Ten-foot high flames were consuming the hallway outside their bedroom by the time they got to the door, and if the six-year-old Josh hadn't burst into their room and helped them climb through the window with a bit of quick thinking, they would have been trapped. But Hannah had tried to check the hall again before leaving, and the white-hot doorknob seared her hand at the touch.

The burn was only superficial, and her parents helped treat it as soon as they got out of the house. But at the time, that night had been the most intense terror and pain she'd ever felt. It stuck in her memory till her dying day.

And her dying day had come.

There was a sort of poetic irony to it, with her first and last memories being the same. A sense of coming full-circle and finishing where you'd started. Of course, that was the last thing on Hannah's mind.

The only thing she was aware of was the pain. Something had risen inside of her in her final moments, a sense of self that had been dulled in the last year. She was herself, and she could feel again after eleven long months of being trapped inside her mind, barely in control of her own body. There was a clouded memory of someone running — no, _Sam_ , she could see that it was Sam — and Hannah had saved her. For a single, shining moment, she was filled with an immense satisfaction. She'd finally taken control, finally been able to save someone and do something good again. Then came the flames, and the agonizing burn that took over any logical thought.

Her mind was filled with a sort of white noise. She could feel everything and nothing in a moment that seemed to last forever.

Then, in an instant, it stopped.

The ringing was gone. The pain was gone. The fire, the lodge, the people. But she could feel _something_ , and Hannah opened her eyes.

She was immediately surprised by the fact that she _had_ working eyes. Color had returned to the world, and she could see the soft oranges and pinks of a morning sky. The clarity of it shocked her, as she was quite sure she wasn't wearing glasses. She raised a hand to her head and saw the soft amber color of her own skin, exactly as it had been before last February.

Slowly sitting up, it became apparent that she had been lying in the snow of Blackwood Mountain. She stood and turned around, raising a hand to block the bright light of the Washington Estate going up in flames.

_I was in there._

_I died in there._

Hannah stood still, staring in shock. It was the only logical explanation for everything that happened. The absence of the monster inside her, the return of her old body, the perfect vision, the fact that she couldn't feel the cold even though she was standing in a snowdrift with nothing more than jeans and a blouse. As a final, desperate check, she pressed two fingers to the small spot on her neck where she had learned to check her own pulse.

Nothing.

She was dead, her mangled body turned to ash, and yet she was still here. The flames that consumed the lodge were morbidly beautiful, and she found herself unable to look away from the place that she'd spent her last moments.

"Hannah?"

Still breathing out of sheer instinct, her breath caught in her throat, and she nearly unbalanced herself by whirling around so quickly. She wasn't alone. Thinking back, she doubted she had ever been alone in the last year. It wasn't like her sister to leave her.

" _Beth._ "

A bittersweet smile tugged at the lips of the youngest Washington. Just like Hannah, she looked frozen in time, exactly as she had on the night she'd died. Her silhouette glowed in the morning light as she walked in front of the sun. "I was wondering when you'd come. It's been a lonely year around here."

"Oh, _God._ " Hannah ran the last few feet to meet her, and Beth laughed as she caught her in a crushing hug. Tears hit Beth's shoulder and vanished as Hannah dug her fingers tightly into the back of her sister's soft grey sweater. "I'm sorry, Beth. I'm so, so sorry."

"It doesn't matter. I've missed you so much, Han." She pulled away and tucked a dark curl behind Hannah's ear. "I missed the real you."

Hannah gulped as the faded memories of the past year came to mind. All the terrible things Beth must have seen her do, and what she'd done to instigate it . . .

Beth shook her head, as if reading her sister's mind. "I don't care what you did. And after that, it wasn't you. You're here now. You're safe now."

"Safe," she repeated quietly. "It's been so long . . ."

"I know." Beth took Hannah's hands in hers and squeezed softly. "It's over."

For a while, they just stood there together, holding onto each other silently in the shadow of the mountain. More had passed between them than words could ever convey. Eventually, Beth began circling her thumb gently around the back of the other girl's hand.

"If you want to, we can . . . go on. Together."

Hannah looked up. She had always found it somewhat strange to look into the eyes that so closely mirrored her own. It was like watching herself, only with everything slightly off. But at the same time, being with Beth was the most natural thing she'd ever felt. "Go on?"

Beth's small smile returned. "Move on, go to the light, whatever you want to call it. If you pay attention, you can feel it. Something's been calling to me ever since it happened, but I had unfinished business then. Now it feels more powerful."

Hannah nodded tentatively. "I think I can feel it." She paused. "But . . . what happens if we . . . ?"

"I don't know. No more than you." She laughed lightly. "I guess my ghost powers aren't senior enough yet."

This got a small smile from Hannah, but then they fell silent again. Finally, she spoke up. "Do you know what happened to the others?"

"They're all alive, Hannah — I saw them before I came to you. Five outside the lodge and three in the mines. Rescuers are coming for them, they'll be okay."

It was as if a weight had been lifted from Hannah's chest. If someone had died that night because of her . . . Well, she didn't want to think about that. She exhaled in relief, and took one look back at the lodge. The sun had risen behind it, painting the sky with shades of warm colors. That morning was the first warmth she'd seen or felt in so long.

She knew what they had to do. The twins shared a look, and nodded once with the tiniest hints of smiles.

Beth released one hand, but they still held onto one another as they began to walk. Hannah could see a helicopter in the distant sky, and her smile grew in knowing that her friends were safe.

Just before they walked into the light of the rising sun, she could have sworn she saw a tiny black and white butterfly in flight. The storm had passed. The calm had returned, and she was at peace.


End file.
